Sign Africa Journal May / June 2018 | Page 42

REVIEW EXHIBITORS REPORT QUALITY VISITORS AND SALES AT SIGN AFRICA ZAMBIA EXPO The Sign Africa expo welcomed 572 visitors from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Congo and Tanzania to the second expo hosted in Lusaka at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre. ‘There is a lot of opportunity in Zambia and it is a very warm and friendly place. I am pleased we are up on our numbers of visitors from last year, despite a quiet first day. With the focus of the expo being business opportunities, it was great to hear about the printing equipment sold at the event. Start up business solutions sold off the stands is testament to the growth opportunities available in printing, signage and branding in Zambia,’ said expo organiser Charnia Yapp. Minister of Supplies and Works Hon. Felix Mutati attended the exhibition and was pleased to find printing solutions for the Government Printing Department. He asked, ’How can we create solutions by bringing in technology?’ He was looking for technology that can offer diversification, and elevate the quality and additional capacity to retain and create jobs. The expo was an opportunity to investigate solutions that the department could bring in-house rather than exporting business to be printed outside Zambia. POSITIVE EXHIBITOR FEEDBACK Kevin Roy from Graficomp said, ‘It was a great show, a bit quiet on the first day but the quality of visitors was exceptional. Visitors were very interested in new technologies.’ Charles Zimba, Hon. Felix Mutati, Minister of Supplies and Works and Charnia Yapp, Sign Africa Expo. Thierry Mufishi of GSW said, ‘Despite a quiet first day, we still made good contacts and sold four machines with more deals in the pipeline. Despite other options there is still interest in Mimaki.’ and not quantity. We’ve been fortunate because now Mutoh has an authorised dealership. We sold three systems off the stand.’ Ruan Geustyn of Modico said, ‘I sold the machine I exhibited and got some good leads. A positive aspect was meeting and reviving relations with existing customers.’ Bruce Xaba from Chemosol said the expo was good, that he sold everything on their booth, and made good contacts. Tomo Hemmi from Fujifilm said that a lot of people liked Fujifilm’s technology and they got very good leads. Being the only direct supplier is their differentiator: ‘The market in Zambia is small but they still expect good sales. Zambia has potential. Having the Minister of Supplies and Works attend was good.’ Fortune Chikamhi from Penanel said, ‘We’ve seen new potential customers which is great, and we have lots of leads.’ Rudi Bothma from Red Hand Sign Supplies said, ‘I love Zambia and the people. There’s a lot of opportunities here. The quality of leads in Zambia, Tanzania and Congo is very exciting.’ David Libubi of KXZ Technologies said that they made good contacts who were interested in their wide range of affordable machines, which they stock and support locally. The company sold four machines off the stand. Chris Winfield of Kemtek Imaging Systems said the show went well, and he got good quality leads. Josh Carstens of MIPS said, ‘It’s been beneficial and we’ve had quality visitors 42 Gavin Peterson of Clear Solutions said, ‘There was good traffic and a lot of interest. Despite it being our first time here, we had a lot of interest in our products, and visitors were surprised to see the quality of printing at the expo. We sold three machines off the stand.’ Jose de Sousa of Createx said, ‘We made contacts and achieved what we set out to do. Textile is still new in Zambia, and we need to work on getting printers to use fabric.’ Sean Davies from Midcomp said, ‘There has been a lot of interest in the HP Latex 335 1.6m and the Direct Color Systems, which enables printing on bottles, T-shirts, tiles, wood, etc. There is some opportunity in Zambia.’ Natalie Gentle from Roland said, ‘Visitors to the Roland stand asked good questions and all leads will be followed up by our dealer.’ Jessica Zhandire of BM Graphic Supplies Ltd said, ‘This was our first time exhibiting and we are happy with the number of visitors to our booth. We’ve learnt a lot. We didn’t come to make sales, we came to get feedback.’ The exhibition stands in Zambia were judged by a representative from the Mulungushi International Conference Centre: First: Roland. Second: BM Graphic Supplies. Third: KXZ Technologies. www.signafricaexpo.com ISSUE 95 MAY/JUNE 2018 | www.SignAfrica.com